Robocalls ask for social security numbers, 3 tips to detect them

Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published:
(Credit: CBS News)

Robocalls are sounding more and more legitimate. The calls that go out are automated to sound like a real place people do business and even claim to be government bodies. So we are sharing three signs to look for to detect a robocall as well as the latest scam going out to people’s phones.

The latest robocall going around threatens to suspend social security numbers.

3 Signs to look for to detect a robocall:

  • A sense of urgency
  • A specific type of payment
  • A consequence

All scams include at least one of the above signs.

They range from threats such as, “The sheriff’s department is going to be at your house.”

To downright annoying. But many people report they are receiving a robocall claiming to be the Social Security Administration.

“It’s usually telling me like my social security number has been suspended,” said.

And it may claim this: “We just suspended your social security number because we found suspicious activity.”

The message will ask to press 1 for more information.

“What you’re doing is your validating that number, and that simply means you’re going to get more of these robocalls,” said Rich Kolko, WINK News Safety and Security Specialist.

The best thing to do is hang up the phone if you receive a call like this.

“There’s no entity of the U.S, local government, city government that’s going to call you, threaten you and try to intimidate you to sending money,” Kolko said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said scammers are using its phone number to rip people off. It’s called spoofing, and it’s a way for the bad guys to try to scare people into giving them money. If you’re really concerned about an issue, look up an agency number and call it back.

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